Privacy Policy
Poke Connections is a free, fan-made browser puzzle: 16 Pokemon names, four hidden groups, four lives. This policy describes every third party the pages actually load, the documented vendor cookies and the storage keys the game writes, how long each one lasts, and how to turn them off. The operator is the Poke Connections desk, [email protected]. This fan project is not affiliated with Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, NYT Connections, or Pokennection.
Default on, Reject off
Google Analytics 4, Microsoft Clarity and Adsterra advertising load as soon as a page opens. They do not wait for you to press Accept. The banner is a notice with two buttons: Accept confirms the choice, Reject switches analytics, session recording and ads off and stores that refusal for 180 days. "Cookie settings" in the footer reopens the banner, so the choice can be changed at any time. If your browser sends Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track, the site stores Reject without waiting for a click.
With no saved choice, the site starts these services by default and shows the banner. Accept records a preference; Reject records a refusal and reloads the page to stop the current third-party execution. The refusal remains active for 180 days. Browser privacy signals take priority. This describes the implementation and does not assert that silence is legally valid consent.
Third parties on the page
The local browser audit on 5 Nov 2026 observed requests to www.googletagmanager.com, www.google-analytics.com, www.clarity.ms, scripts.clarity.ms, other *.clarity.ms endpoints, and bicea.org. Google Analytics uses the first two; Clarity uses its namesake endpoints; Adsterra starts at bicea.org and can request rotating creative hosts. The player can contact youtube-nocookie.com, *.googlevideo.com, *.ytimg.com and Google services after a permitted Play click. Each script is started by the site's own loader after the page has parsed, not by a blocking tag in the initial HTML.
| Service | What it does | Documented cookies / storage | Retention / evidence | Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics 4 (G-N43RJJZ8P3) | Counts page views and basic traffic sources for this site. GA4 does not log or store IP addresses. Reports are aggregate; I do not use them to identify a visitor. | _ga distinguishes users and _ga_N43RJJZ8P3 persists session state. Google's GA4 documentation lists these cookies; cookie presence depends on the browser and consent state. | Google documents a two-year default for both GA4 cookies; browser limits may shorten it. 1 source · Google documentation. | Loads by default; Reject stops it |
Microsoft Clarity (project z8pomek1ht) | Heat maps and session replays: clicks, scrolls and page layout. Clarity masks text in form fields and other sensitive content by default. | _clck stores a Clarity user ID and preferences; _clsk connects page views into a session. The documented third-party list also includes CLID, ANONCHK, MR, MUID, and SM. This is a vendor list, not a claim that each is present on every visit. | Variable by cookie and browser. No exact lifetime was established for this site. 1 source · Clarity documentation. | Loads by default; Reject stops it |
| Adsterra (Native Banner unit 32101425, Social Bar unit 32101426) | Serves the in-page native ad and the fixed bar at the bottom-right. Adsterra and its advertisers may process identifiers and set cookies on their domains to cap frequency and measure advertising. Google Consent Mode sends denied defaults for ad_storage, ad_user_data, and ad_personalization; analytics_storage starts granted. Those Google signals are not a promise that a different ad network uses the same controls. | Adsterra sets cookies on its own domains (for example bicea.org and the creative hosts it rotates). This site does not read them and I do not receive them. My own close-state key is pc_socialbar_closed. | Vendor-cookie lifetime is not established here. The site’s pc_socialbar_closed expiry is 180 days (first-party implementation). | Loads by default; Reject stops it |
YouTube (privacy-enhanced embed, youtube-nocookie.com) | The one video on the homepage is a facade button. The player iframe is created only after Play and while third parties are allowed. Reject disables playback until the preference changes. | YouTube may set VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE, YSC, PREF and similar cookies after the player starts. | Controlled by Google and the browser; no exact lifetime was established here. 1 source · Google policy. | Play click plus an allowed preference |
Storage on this device
The site sets no first-party cookie of its own. It uses local storage, which stays in this browser until you clear it or the row expires. The table below is the complete list of keys this site writes, including the key that belongs to the fixed ad bar.
| Key | Purpose | Retention | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
pc_consent | Remembers Accept or Reject for the banner, and is what the loaders read before starting analytics, Clarity or ads. | 180 days | Your choice on the banner |
pc_socialbar_closed | Remembers that you hid the fixed Adsterra Social Bar, so it does not come back on the next page view. | 180 days | Your choice to hide the ad |
pc_daily:<date> | Daily mistakes and solved groups, so a refresh keeps the board. | Until you clear site data | Running the puzzle you opened |
pc_run:unlimited | Unlimited index and streak. | Until you clear site data | Running the puzzle you opened |
pc_run:expert | Expert index and streak. | Until you clear site data | Running the puzzle you opened |
Advertising and personalized ads
Adsterra is the only ad network on this site. It runs a native banner inside the article and a fixed Social Bar; there is no popunder, no interstitial and no smartlink. Adult advertising is switched off on the Adsterra website record for this domain.
If you want to opt out of personalized advertising from the networks that may bid through Adsterra, use Google Ads Settings, the industry list at aboutads.info, or the European list at Your Online Choices. Reject on this site also stops the Adsterra scripts from starting here at all. Because the ad code runs inside Adsterra's own frames, I cannot delete a cookie that Adsterra set on its own domain; the opt-out links and your browser's cookie controls are the way to remove those.
What I do not do
I do not sell personal information, I do not run an account system, and I do not ask for a date of birth. There is no comment form. Maker drafts stay in share-link fragments rather than being published to a server. The hosting provider may process access logs for delivery and security; this site has not established an exact provider-log retention period.
If you email [email protected], I receive whatever you put in the message, use it to answer, and keep it as long as the thread needs. Do not send an identification document. The mailbox is the contact on the contact page.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of an email thread, a correction, or deletion by writing to [email protected]. Puzzle progress and the consent key are not on a server: clearing this site's data in your browser deletes them, and I cannot delete a key I never received. If you are in the EEA or UK you can complain to your supervisory authority. If you are in California, you can ask what categories of personal information are collected and ask for deletion; use Reject to stop the ad and analytics loaders, or contact the operator about privacy requests.
Children
The site is not directed at children under 13. I do not ask for a date of birth. If you believe a child emailed us, write and I will delete the thread.
Changes
I change this page in place and update the date at the top. A new third party, including any future analytics or ad partner, has to be named here before its script ships, with the cookie or key it sets and how long it keeps data. The default-loading services above were added on 2026-11-05, when the site began loading them by default.
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Questions
Do you run ads?
Yes. Adsterra serves a native banner in the article and a fixed Social Bar. They load by default; Reject turns them off for 180 days. There is no popunder and adult ads are off.
Does the video load by itself?
No. The homepage shows a poster and a Play button. The privacy-enhanced YouTube iframe is created when you press Play. Reject disables the player until you change your preference.
How do I turn analytics and ads off?
Press Reject on the banner, or open Cookie settings in the footer and press Reject. That stores the refusal for 180 days and the loaders skip Google Analytics 4, Clarity and Adsterra on later visits.
How do I delete my streak?
Clear site data for pokeconnections.org in your browser. There is no account to delete.
Sources
- Google Analytics — how Google uses data from sites — checked 2026-11-05
- Google Analytics — GA4 cookie usage — checked 2026-11-05
- Microsoft — Privacy Statement — checked 2026-11-05
- Microsoft Clarity — cookie list — checked 2026-11-05
- Adsterra — Privacy Policy — checked 2026-11-05
- Google Ads Settings — checked 2026-11-05
- Digital Advertising Alliance — WebChoices opt-out — checked 2026-11-05
- Google Privacy Policy — checked 2026-11-05
Last updated 2026-11-05. Contact [email protected].